Childhood Friends
by the go-to guy
Summary: What if Tsukune was a vampire? What if he and Moka knew each other as children? These two simple differences in the Rosario Vampire universe have unexpected and far-reaching effects. TsuXMok
1. Chapter 1

Written for MidniteeMafia, who did some nice fan art with a cool back story that I that would be cool to make a reality. Check her out, she's pretty good! The link is on my profile.

**PART 1**

The Akashiya Family was, like most vampire families, generally a solitary entity; they kept to themselves and didn't branch out much. However, as was the case with most rules and laws, there was an exception for everyone. For the Akashiyas, it was the Aono family. The friendship between the two families stretched back generations, all the way to the founding members of the respective heirs and assigns. Few knew of the relationship, but those who did would be able to vouch for the fact that the bond was deep indeed. It was a beautiful day in the summer when the two lords of the two houses brought their children to meet each other. At the time, Lord Akashiya had four daughters: two older ones aged around nine and ten respectively, a younger one aged four, and a baby aged three. Lord Aono had only one son aged four, but he was happy enough with one. Lord Aono had brought his son to Manor Akashiya and had set him down to play in the living room while he talked with the father-of-four owner of the house in the other room. The girls gathered around to observe the newcomer as he sat on the floor, quaking and unsure of what to do under the scrutiny of the others. The oldest girl merely scoffed and walked away, unimpressed by what she saw. The second-oldest smiled and patted the boy on the head. "Oh, what a cutie-pie!" she cooed out. While the young boy liked the attention, he shook for some reason; something about that girl scared him. The nine-year-old complimented the youngster a little bit more, and then left to pursue her own interests. The youngest girl just frowned and stuck her tongue out at him, having not liked him the second she saw him. She crawled away to play by herself in the corner in the most dignified manner that she could. That left just the young boy and the second-youngest daughter alone. As was his nature, the boy smiled kindly at the girl, who just started at him with a slight frown, as was her nature.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, the boy smiling and the girl frowning, when the girl suddenly started to walk away. The boy became sad; he didn't like being alone, and she was a pretty girl, and he didn't want a pretty girl mad at him. His smile returned when the girl walked back over to him, but he became somewhat confused when something was thrust into his hands. He looked down and saw that it was a male doll; a clearly very expensive and high-class male doll, but a doll nonetheless (AN: think Ken from Ken and Barbie). The boy looked at the girl again and saw that she had sat down opposite from him in a similar position and was holding what appeared to be the female counterpart to the doll that she had given him. Understanding immediately, the boy happily played along with girl.

Unnoticed by the couple were the two bystanders to their first meeting, currently leaning against the door frame. "Looks like those two have hit it off right away." Pointed out Lord Aono. Lord Akashiya hummed in response. "My little Tsukune and your little Moka…" Lord Aono mused. "Looks like they're having a lot of fun."

XXXXX

"Oh come on, Tsukune; that can't be everything you have." A seven-year-old Moka said to a similarly aged Tsukune, the latter of which being splayed out on the floor of the training room after being on the business end of one of Moka's attacks. Tsukune groaned in response to Moka's insult as he got to his feet and brushed himself off.

"Sorry Moka," He apologized. "I guess I'm just not as strong as you are." Moka scoffed.

"Of course you aren't; you just started training!" It was true. Since his birthday earlier that year, Tsukune had decided that since he was his father's only son, he should become as powerful as he could. He had decided to go to Moka for help; it wasn't that she was the best fighter of the Akashiya family, but he and Moka shared a special connection that neither of them had with anyone else. They were best friends, and they understood each other. Besides, Moka was a good teacher; she never got impatient and she always showed him just what could happen to him in a real fight when he did something wrong. Moka looked at Tsukune: they had been training (read: Moka beating up Tsukune) for a few hours now, and he was looking bushed. Moka sighed. "Alright Tsukune. Let's call it a day. We can train some more tomorrow." Tsukune instantly perked up, happy that he wasn't going to get hurt anymore. "Let's get some food." Moka said, making her way to the kitchen with Tsukune hot on her heels. They arrived at their destination and made some sandwiches. While they were eating, the duo reflected upon how the training went that day. Moka was blunt. "You need a lot of help." She stated flatly. "It's going to be tough and rigorous to get you fighting ready." Tsukune nodded; he had known this before he asked for help. He swallowed what was in his mouth and opened his jaws to speak.

"That's why I came to you Moka. I know that you can help me!" Tsukune said with a smile. Moka blushed, not used to receiving praise. She looked away.

"Thanks." She said in a small voice.

XXXXXX

At ten, Tsukune was surprised by the sudden appearance of Moka at his house late one afternoon. He knew something was wrong the instant he saw her: she did her best to try and hide hw she was feeling from people, but Tsukune had known her long enough to recognize that her perpetual frown was now taking on the appurtenance of a deep scowl, and her blood-red eyes informed Tsukune that she was quite distraught. Tsukune wordlessly stepped aside and allowed Moka to enter. She immediately went into the family room and wordlessly plopped down on one of the couches. Not wanting to disturb his friend right away, Tsukune went and got a can of Tomato Juice (her favorite drink) from the refrigerator and went into the family room. He tossed the beverage to Moka who caught it without looking up from the floor. Tsukune sat across from her and decided to wait until Moka had decided to speak; he could tell that she wanted some quiet time to sort out her thoughts before she vocalized her woes. After about five minutes, Moka spoke.

"He's sending me away." She said so quietly that Tsukune had to strain to hear her.

"What do you mean 'He's sending me away'? Who's he? And where are you going?" Tsukune asked, not understanding.

"'He' is my father." Moka said, almost spitting out her title for the lord of Manor Akashiya. "And I'm going to the human world." Tsukune froze.

"The human world?" He asked in a small voice, almost as if afraid to say the name. It was not surprising; the human world seemed as strange and far away to the vampires as Mars seems to Earth. They had both heard stories of the vampires that had gone there: some had been able to cope with the situation, but most had become crazy and unable to contain themselves around all of the potential food. Those that had gone crazy often went on unexplained killing sprees, the most famous of which was Jack the Ripper, but that's a story for another day. The point is that if you were a vampire, going to live among the humans was insane, even more so if you were young and the most interaction that you had with humans was the blood bags that you ate from, as was the case with Moka and Tsukune. Tsukune couldn't believe that Lord Akashiya was going to send Moka there. "Why, Moka?" Tsukune asked, still trying to wrap his mind around this new revelation.

"Apparently he wants me to understand their culture." Moka said with bitterness. "I could care less, but he already sighed me up for middle school; I'm going to be leaving come the start of the school year."

"B-b-but what about the stories of the vampires who went crazy?" Tsukune asked, trying to find some way to get Moka to stay. "What is he going to do about that?"

"He's sealing me." Moka replied. "Locking up my vampire powers so that I won't be affected by the bloodlust." Tsukune couldn't say anything, not that he would have spoken if he could. His life, and the life of his best friend, had just changed in an instant. He leaned back in the chair to wrap his head around this new turn of events as Moka started to speak again. "He told me just this afternoon. I came over here as soon as I could." Moka looked up for the first time since she had taken a seat to look at Tsukune, who was shocked to see something that he thought would never happen: Moka was crying. "I'm scared Tsukune." She said, a warble in her voice. "I might not see you again." Tsukune got up from his chair and went over to the couch to sit next to Moka, who grabbed him in a hug the second his weight hit the cushion. Tsukune was stunned; his immoveable, emotionless, unflinching, tough-as-nails best friend Moka was crying.

_She must be really shaken up._ Tsukune thought to himself as he returned the bone-crushing hug Moka had him trapped in. _I have to be strong._ "It's okay Moka." Tsukune whispered to her as they embraced. "It's okay."

XXXXXX

One month later, Tsukune was standing with the rest of the Akashiya family outside of the house, getting ready to say his last goodbye to Moka before she left. Looking around, Tsukune guessed that nobody but Moka's parents wanted her to leave. The two older girls were keeping straight faces, but Tsukune could tell that they were distraught. Kokoa was hiding somewhere, pretending that she didn't care, but Tsukune had seen her earlier in the day and guessed that she was torn up over her older sister leaving. Suddenly, the front door of the Manor opened, and out stepped Moka. Because of a deal that she made with her parents, she would not be sealed until she reached the human world, so her flowing silver hair added to the air of regality she carried as she observed her farewell party from the porch. She was carrying a single suitcase of personal belongings; the rest had been packed earlier in the morning. She walked forward, not breaking stride as she descended the staircase and towards the gathered vampires. She stopped in front of each one of her family members in descending order: Father, Mother, and her two older sisters until finally she got to Tsukune. They stared at each other, not saying a thing. Ever since learning that they would soon be separated, the couple had spent every moment that they could together, enjoying the fleeting time that they had left. It seemed that the month had gone by too fast, but here they were, saying goodbye for who knows how long.

"Goodbye Tsukune." Moka said, bowing as she had to her family before. Tsukune took something out of his pocket and handed it to Moka before returning the gesture.

"Goodbye Moka." Tsukune said, smiling. Moka looked at the folded-up piece of paper that he handed her, but before she could ask about it, a horn blared from the limo that would take Moka to the human world. Reluctantly, she walked over to the car and slid in through the door that was being held open by one of the servants, who closed off the entrance after Moka had gotten in. As the car started up and left the Manor for the human world, Tsukune was left staring after the car containing his best friend, wondering when they would next meet.

XXXXXX

As the limo traveled soundlessly and smoothly, Moka once again looked at the folded-up paper that Tsukune had given her. Gripping the ends ever so carefully, she opened up the paper to reveal a single-line note and something that fluttered to the floor. Moka decided to read the note first. It said:

**Good luck in the human world, Moka! Here's something to remember me by.**

**-Tsukune**

Curious, Moka reached down and picked up the small item that had fluttered to the floor. She flipped it over and gasped. It was a photograph of the two of them, taken merely a week ago. They were sitting on the grass outside during a beautiful day, enjoying nature. It was one of the times where they had gone exploring around the houses, and this was one of the times where Tsukune's mother had a camera. They were smiling, looking like they were enjoying themselves. Well, Tsukune was smiling; Moka never really made a facial expression different than a frown, but you could tell that she was genuinely enjoying herself. Seeing the picture made the gravity of the situation crash down on Moka, who had been in a small state of denial for the past month. She gazed at the picture longingly. "Tsukune…" She whispered to herself.

**PART 2**

Twelve-year-old Moka fell onto the bed in her dorm room at middle school, Rosario dangling on its chain and her near tears. The children had teased her again today, just as they did every day; it never stopped. Why couldn't they understand her? Why couldn't they just leave her alone? Why couldn't she just disappear? Covering her face with her pillow, Moka took some deep breaths to calm down. When she realized that it was pointless, she was just too upset for deep breathing, she sat up and dug in her pocket. She pulled out a slightly-creased photograph that she made sure to keep on her at all times. She ran her fingers longingly over one of the two people in the image. She hadn't seen him in two years, and she missed him terribly. He always understood her, he never made fun of her, and he was her best friend. She wanted to see Tsukune again so very much, but she knew that was next to impossible. Still, the picture always made her feel better, so she let her mind take a stroll down memory lane as she continued staring at the photo.

XXXXXX

Freshman in high school Moka Akashiya took a seat in her desk at the back of her homeroom class on the first day of school at Youkai Academy. She was glad to be back among monster-kind, after the awful experience she had with middle school. Sadly though, she had been sent straight here from her former school without being able to visit home. She missed Tsukune terribly, and she hoped that now she would be able to write since she was among monsters again. Moka mulled over that hope for a while, figuring out what she would say, but her revere was cut short by the sound of whistling that she suspected was being directed at her. Looking around, she noticed that the class had started to fill up while she was daydreaming, and all of the boys were looking at her. Some were whistling over were using lame pick-up lines, but most of them were just staring. Moka blushed and averted her eyes, not used to being the center of attention. Thankfully, the teacher walked in and called everyone's attention up to the front of the class. Moka listened intently, hoping in the back of her mind that she would be able to tour around the school when homeroom was over.

XXXXXX

Moka slumped onto a bench in an empty hallway, exhausted. Her efforts at trying to explore had been thwarted the second she stepped out into the hallway. She had instantly become mobbed with boys trying to ask for her number, or ask for a date, or ask for some other lecherous things. It had taken all of her energy to get away from them, and now she wanted nothing more than to be alone. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the picture of her and Tsukune. She gazed at it for a few minutes, but her concentration was broken by the sound of footsteps coming her way. Moka mentally groaned; she _really _wasn't in the mood to be hit on again. _Just keep walking…Just keep walking…_ Moka mentally pleaded as the footsteps grew ever louder. She cursed on the inside as the footsteps stopped right in front of her. She didn't look up at the person standing in front of her, hoping that they would get the message. Unfortunately, it appeared that they didn't, as whomever it was stood there and appeared to not want to move. Finally, Moka couldn't take it anymore. She looked up, prepared to tell off this stranger, but stopped once they made eye contact. She recognized that face. She recognized those eyes. She recognized everything about this newcomer. In fact, the only thing that prevented Moka from leaping forward and tackling him in a hug was that Moka couldn't believe that the person in front of her was real. The newcomer coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, something he always did when he was nervous.

"Um… Hi Moka. Nice to see you again!" Tsukune said awkwardly.


	2. IMPORTANT ANOUNCMENT

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

Due to the amount of requests to make this story longer, I have set up a poll on my profile. Please take the two seconds to answer this poll and if the final result is yes, then I will write another chapter. Happy voting!


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